Opinion | Anti-government protests wreaking havoc on Hong Kong sport but is worse to come? Hong Kong Sevens, marathon and International Races could be hit
- Visitor numbers to the city have nosedived, raising concerns over some of the biggest events
- Hong Kong Tennis Open has been postponed, with ASTC Sprint Triathlon Asian Cup and Asian Aquathlon Championships cancelled because of safety worries
By attracting 120,000 fans in three days, there’s really no comparison, but even with the 2020 tournament six months away, Sevens lovers may already be thinking twice about coming because of the ongoing anti-government protests.
Nowadays, half of the Sevens crowd comes from overseas, but the number of visitors to the city has dwindled since the protests began earlier this summer.
In the past week, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po posted on his blog that arrivals fell nearly 40 per cent in August from the same time last year. It is a drop-off rate unseen since the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) outbreak – and it follows a 5 per cent drop in July.
If that pattern continues, Hong Kong sports’ jewel in the crown might as well be paste, the flint glass of costume jewellery that is essentially worthless.
